Match Thread

[bournender2]

Wasps have been bad but my god that's the worst half of referring in a long time.
Too busy giving the 9's the hurry up he forgets about the rest of the game.

Between 65 and 75 minutes Quinn’s were offside at every ruck obviously willing to give away 3 pts but did he see it?

[coddy]

We were clearly beaten by a better side on the day credit must go to Quins more so than our own shortfallings.

I've run out of wine so I'm now going to console myself with a couple of hours of watching Game of Thrones.

[Rossm]

The only positive I can see is that we are still fifth

[Shugs]

It's just a bit concerning that our drop off at scrum half is so large. There were off days and questionable selections but they just played with a greater intensity than us. We're not getting anyone back in camp any time soon so this group has to work it out. I wonder if Blackett is considering playing Jimmy or Sopoaga at 10, or Atkinson. Miller looks a cert to start at 15 for me. It won't get any easier away at a rejuvenated Saints.

[RBB]

Sopoaga was truly awful today, a complete liability in defence and doesn't appear to have any heart.

[Bloke in North Dorset]

Porter slow getting the ball away.

I don't think that was his biggest failing. He's a spikey player and not afraid to get involved and mix it with the big boys, which is a plus at times, but he spent too much time getting involved at the breakdown and not enough time bossing the big boys to get them involved. He'll learn but he's definitely work in progress.

I agree with others, we lose something when Dobbie's not playing and its a bit of a worry. You rarely see him in the middle of the breakdown, unless he'd taken the ball in.

[mike909]

Sorry, but blaming Pearce is ridiculous, Quins were better, far better at every single facet of the game. Umaga (amongst others) played poorly because Quins line speed was phenomenal and put us under massive pressure on the rare occasions that we actually had the ball. They found a good way to prevent us from playing our usual game. Our only scores were from bludgeoning our way over the line with the pack, that's not Wasps game at all.

Team with a lot of talent but coached poorly plays far better once their DoR leaves? Sound familiar? Fair play to them, we deserved what we got and they were very good value for their 5 points. Sometimes you just have to be sporting and take it on the chin, not nice to watch but we've bounced back from poor performances before. As others have mentioned, this is where the coaching team earn their salary.

Just to make clear - I was not blaming the ref for the result. We got exactly what we deserved. However, I've consistently been on and on about reffing in the Prem and that performance by the officials was yet another one that was confused and inconsistent. Even Barnes on Friday was only just about ok. And the two key areas are breakdown and offside. It's been reffed poorly for seasons in the NH and rewards the wrong teams too often. Today - I could have reffed and we'd have lost.

[Heathen]

Just looked at the table - Glaws conceded 199, Wasps 208, Bath 212.

You cannot concede an average of 30 points a game and think you will win consistently.

[JonnyD]

So where is Vellacott?
His form wasn’t when he was back and obviously returning from a very bad injury but he was brought in for times exactly like this to still push us on when Dobby is with a England.
Still poor form or that now he is off to Scotland we might as well persist with the two young bucks?

[MarleyWasp]

So where is Vellacott?
His form wasn’t when he was back and obviously returning from a very bad injury but he was brought in for times exactly like this to still push us on when Dobby is with a England.
Still poor form or that now he is off to Scotland we might as well persist with the two young bucks?

If the plan was to let him go and develop Porter and Wolstenholme, with Robson firmly in the England reckoning I think we need to reassess that idea.

[Bloke in North Dorset]

Just looked at the table - Glaws conceded 199, Wasps 208, Bath 212.

You cannot concede an average of 30 points a game and think you will win consistently.

+1

Lee made a similar point some time back when we were being complemented on our defence.

[HDAWG]

So where is Vellacott?
His form wasn’t when he was back and obviously returning from a very bad injury but he was brought in for times exactly like this to still push us on when Dobby is with a England.
Still poor form or that now he is off to Scotland we might as well persist with the two young bucks?

If the plan was to let him go and develop Porter and Wolstenholme, with Robson firmly in the England reckoning I think we need to reassess that idea.

Vellacott wasn't playing any better than Porter or Wolstenholme and I guarantee he'd have made no difference today. The truth is there's a gap between Robson and the rest of our scrum halves. That's not going to change for a while.

[Shugs]

But he has more experience. I agree, it wouldn't have changed the result though. A few things didn't come off today. Minozzi out wide, Sopoaga at 15. JTA over Brookes starting. We've also got to hope Young and Shields are ok. Willis got a knock as well.

[Neils]

Young and Shields looked not very good. Tom played on but could be worse when he wakes up.

[HDAWG]

But he has more experience. I agree, it wouldn't have changed the result though. A few things didn't come off today. Minozzi out wide, Sopoaga at 15. JTA over Brookes starting. We've also got to hope Young and Shields are ok. Willis got a knock as well.

They're good points. If anything a more substantial replacement for Brookes should be on the cards if JTA is better off the bench.